


Guardian in Gotham

by ElinaGrace



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Badass Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, F/F, F/M, Guardian Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Jason Todd is Red Hood, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-03
Updated: 2020-12-03
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:29:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27859122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElinaGrace/pseuds/ElinaGrace
Summary: Marinette, now guardian of the miraculous, moves to Gotham. As she works to cleanse the city, she runs into conflicts with not only the villains of Gotham, but also the Bats!
Relationships: Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug/Jason Todd
Comments: 8
Kudos: 109





	Guardian in Gotham

**Author's Note:**

> This is a work of fiction that is in no way, shape or form the original Miraculous Ladybug or Batman. If I owned those, I wouldn't be calculating how to spend the minimum on college application fees.

Marinette shivers in her seat, drawing her sweatshirt tighter around her body. The weather in Paris was usually cool, but though the temperature was the same, she felt much colder. The other passengers on the train don’t spare her a glance, each one focused only on the hideous blue and green seat covers in front of them. Well-that wasn’t strictly true. As they got closer to Gotham, hands tightened on their purses and wallets. Glances out the window increased in number, though at the same time the duration of each look was reduced.  


As the train drew closer, Marinette felt her excitement and energy grow. The tugging in her chest, the pangs of wrongness which had plagued her for months, were finally subsiding. She was the Guardian of the Miraculous. It fell upon her shoulders to protect the kwami and the miraculous they inhabited. But, as Master Fu had explained to her during her training so long ago, that was not the extent of her duty. The world depended on duality, balance in all things. If darkness ran rampant for too long in one space, if a city became too corrupted, the fabric of that place could tear. First, the people of the city would start to be tainted by the darkness they lived in. Then, malevolent creatures from all walks of life would be drawn there. At last, the fabric of the place would tear, letting darkness bleed out into the multiverse.  


That most dire of scenarios had only ever happened once. Roanoke had never been seen again. Gotham was the darkest place on Earth now, and it was getting awfully close to the second phase. So. She would go there and dispel the darkness just as Master Fu had done in Paris. She would stop it from getting worse.  


Marinette steps off of the train and watches as her fellow passengers scatter to the four winds. Gothamites do not pause or wait or stop to smell the flowers. Looks were already being cast her way. She hurriedly follows suit, clinging to her satchel as she rushes out of the station. A half an hour later, she was on a grassy pavilion, sparsely populated by picnic tables and benches. A few families sit around the tables, a few individuals sit on benches. It's almost funny how they sit one person per bench, studiously avoiding each other. Gothamites were suspicious by nature of calling Gotham home. However, the poisonous green tint on the auras were certainly playing a part. Suddenly, shaken by the gravity of her undertaking, her intent to cleanse all of this, Marinette collapses on a bench. She takes a moment, putting her head in her heads. Then, with a surreptitious look around, she opens her satchel just a bit.  


“Tikki,” she murmurs, “we’re here.” The kwami’s big eyes poke out, and a moment later, she is hiding within her chosen’s long sleeve.  


“Oh Marinette,” she whispers sorrowfully, “it’s worse than I could have imagined.” The kwami shudders. “It’s like a leech corrupting the planet.” Marinette nods, opens her mouth, and then rethinks it. She hastily pulls her sketchbook out of her satchel and follows it with a pen. Under the pretense of drawing, with her head bowed, she feels comfortable enough to speak to her kwami.  


“I’ve been reviewing the books,” Marinette says. “There are so many ways to purge, but so many just can't be done. I don't know where to start.”  


“Oh no Marinette,” Tikki chirps, “You need to believe in yourself more. You made your plans, just remember to take it one step at a time. You don’t need to start cleaning the city right away. Find a place! Settle in! Then you can go over all the ideas. I’m sure you’ll find the perfect option!” Marinette beams, revitalized by her kwami’s encouragement.  


“Thanks Tikki!” She opens the bag for her kwami to slip inside and jumps off the bench. “I know I can do it with your help!”

She began to march down the pathway, determined to find an apartment. Worst case, she’d look for a hotel for the night, and continue her search in the morning. Yes, she could do this. She was prepared, she was the the Guardian, and she-  


“Hey, girl!” Marinette jumps a foot in the air and whips around. “You forgot your notebook,” the taller, black haired man snaps.  
Marinette’s bluebell eyes widen as she takes in her sketchbook and pencils, held in the man’s arms like an accusation. Oh, how could she be so careless? Then her eyes drift up and she has to stifle a gasp. Around him like an unearthly halo was the clear sign of corruption. Darkness didn’t just tinge it, it saturated him to the core. The ugly green had all but snuffed out his natural aural color. His was the worst case she had seen since arriving. Clearly, she had a lot of work before her.  


“Hey, Bluebell!” He snaps, “Man, are you deaf too?” She unfreezes all at once.  


“Thank you!” She gasps. “Thank you so much! All of my sketches are in there, and my business plans.” Marinette hastily stuffs her items back into her bag. Tikki, the wonderful kwami that she is, was conveniently out of sight.  


“Yeah, well you need to be more careful,” he grumbles.  


“Yes, I know. My friends are always telling me. I was just distracted by your walk. Is something wrong with your shoulder?” Almost without think, she reaches towards the offending limb, a spot where the unearthly green had set into the bone.  


The man jumps back out of her reach. “What do you think you’re doing?”  


“Oh!” Marinette gasps, “I’m sorry. I was just going to check your shoulder. I forgot how Gothamites are with touch. I just moved here from Paris, we are all much friendlier there.”  


“What do you mean you’re moving here? This is Gotham. People move away from here.” Jason snaps, choosing to ignore the unwanted near touch.  


“The city has so much potential. I’m going to start my own business. I already have a booklet of listings. I just can’t wait.” Jason looks at her like she’s crazy/  


He is momentarily at a loss for anything to say. The blue haired girl was clearly an idiot. “Gotham has no potential, it is the worst place to start a new business. Do you have any idea how many businesses fail here everyday?” Jason continues his rant for another few minutes in front of a stunned Marinette. “And-what business did you even say you were thinking of?”  


“Well,” she squeaks, “I’m not entirely sure? My mentor used to run a massage parlor-”  


“You can not have a massage parlor.” Jason states flatly. “Gothamites are suspicious by nature, they'll laugh and throw coffee at you as they run you out of town.” Marinette’s eyes dart around. Coffee. Practically every person around her held a cup of cheap, fast food brand coffee in their hands. They walked and talked and drank. Marinette practically explodes from excitement.  


“A coffee shop!” She declares, “That’s it! I am going to open a coffee shop. Oh, it’s going to be perfect. I’m going to have some nice artwork up, and some specialized coffee, ooh, and some different types of scones. They’ll be a blueberry, and a strawberry…”  


“Hold on,” Jason splutters. “You only decided on this a minute ago.”  


“That’s fine,” Marinette beams. “I know what I’m going to do now. Now all I need to do is get a store and an apartment. Don’t worry,” she adds, seeing his stunned expression. “I already have some listings. I saw this great sounding one on Drover’s street…”  


“No. Awful neighborhood, run by the mob.”  


“Hmm… maybe this one on Riddles!”  


“Clearly, Bluebell, you are too clueless to be left alone in this city. That is the birthplace of the Riddler.”  


The girl flushes red. “My name isn’t Bluebell. It’s Marie.”  


“Jason. Come on Bluebell, I am going to help you not get murdered.”  
Over the next few hours, Jason and Marinette check out over a dozen listings. To Marinette’s horror, her new friend refuses all of them.  
“Jason,” she finally complains, “I need a place to live. I can just go back to that one on Richester-”  


“Gangs.” Jason says flatly. “You lost your notebook in 2 minutes. You’ll lose your life in less than that.”  


“You,” she huffs, “are a very cruel friend.” That was fine though. Marinette had grown up with Chloe, she could handle it.  


“Bluebell, I am not your friend.”  


“You’re finding me a nice apartment after knowing me for 5 minutes. Of course you’re my friend!” Jason glares at her angrily and drags her off.  


They end up at a plaza somewhere between a nice neighborhood and a poorer one. The place is dilapidated and slightly run down, but altogether intact and swarming with busy people. Jason racks his mind for a place to take his new acquaintance, but Marinette vanishes by the time he looks for her. He frantically looks around, spotting the girl outside a closed, boarded up shop. A broken sign at the front proclaims that the place is for rent, and includes a top floor living space. He stops her as she starts to dial the realtor's number.  


“What do you think you’re doing?”  


Marinette looks at him, suddenly very calm and sure of herself. She gestures inside the building.  


“Take a look. The floor is nicely tiled, there is plenty of space for a counter, some baking space and tables. I need a place to live and a place to start my business. This place has both, and there isn’t another coffee shop in the square. It’s perfect!”  


Jason hesitates and looks around. The windows are dirty and stained, but he has a fair view of the interior. There is a surprising amount of space, and he can see outlets, so there wouldn’t be wiring issues. The place doesn’t look all that great - but that’s mostly because of the splintered tables and chairs.  


“Clear it out, clean it up,” he mutters to himself. “This could actually work. And the neighborhood is decent-you’re unlikely to get murdered by stepping outside.” Marinette beams and goes back to dialing. This was it. Her Ladybug luck had finally kicked in.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time publishing anything. Please be gentle.  
> I read Gotham's Red Fox by Runespour a while back, but couldn't find the piece again to credit it. Thank you to the people in the comments for hunting it down. I absolutely took some inspiration from that piece and Runespour deserves credit for many of the ideas. However, I do intend to put my own spin on it!


End file.
